Samba

Samba

Samba provides MS shares on our server. This allows us to use our server as a file server for Win clients. We do not use Samba as a domain controller. So to operate Samba correctly a user must have a linux account and a Win account using the same user name.

When we have been operating two Samba servers in our LAN we experienced problems at client side. Sometimes clients only browsed one of the two servers. We did not resolve this problem as in real life we only have one Samba server active. We found out to be important that multiple Samba servers have the same setting for “encrypted password” (see below).

We have used Samba 2.2.1a which comes with SuSE Linux 7.3. If you are using a version older than 2.2.1a you will run into problems selecting a printer share from our server with Win NT4.0 and Win2000 clients. Please note that configuring a printer share for our server is not part of this document. Mind that since SuSE Linux 7.3 the configuration file for Samba is located in /etc/samba/smb.conf.

Setting up Win2000 clients

Due to the immense number of MS operating systems only Win2000 is considered.

Configure network settings of the client by choosing Properties of the “My Computer” icon of the desktop (tab “Network Identification”). Press the “Properties” button there. Enter the actual “Computer name”, check “Workgroup” and enter WORKGROUP which will be the one and only workgroup in our LAN (must be entered always). Mind that the computer name must also be input in /etc/hosts at our server. As written before we need a complete /etc/hosts (see chapter Providing complete /etc/hosts ).

network identification settings

It is important that the Win client supports “NetBIOS over TCP/IP”. So be sure to check it when configuring TCP/IP in the “WINS” tab of the TCP/IP settings. Network configuration of the client is not the topic of this document.

Setting up server

Be sure to have a complete /etc/hosts as mentioned in chapter Providing complete /etc/hosts .

We are configuring Samba to provide a global file share to all users by mapping directory /home/public. The user’s home directory as a file share is only accessible to the specific user. Furthermore we are exporting all available printers as printer shares. The security level is “user” so any share will be available to user’s registered in Samba’s user database and configured in /etc/samba/smb.conf. See our /etc/samba/smb.conf file for details.

We use encrypted passwords which will allow all Win operating systems to access the shares even if they are using unencrypted passwords (by default Win2000 and newer use encrypted passwords). Each user accessing a share on our server must:

be a Linux user in group users on our server (group users is the default group)
be configured using /usr/bin/smbpasswd with the same username on our server
be logged into network on the Win client with the same username and password used for smbpasswd.

Furthermore make sure that the SuSE variable START_SMB =”yes” so that Samba is started at boot up.

Mind the need of a name server within our LAN (see chapter Named ).